Eating Crow after Christmas: Why I Guess I Don't Really Absolutely Hate e-Readers Anymore

by Jacqueline Fauni

I am by no means retracting all of what I said in my previous post on the subject, and I'm not even writing this because my feelings have radically changed, but perhaps I was a bit too harsh and hasty in saying I despise e-readers.

I was compelled (coerced, really) to re-evaluate my views when I received the Hunger Games trilogy for Christmas. I had been dying to read the series, and placed it at the very top of my two-item wishlist (the other item being the 2011 version of JANE EYRE on Blu-ray). Come Christmas morning, I open a card from my parents, in which I find a slip of paper simply saying, "The Hunger Games..." Confused, I look over at my mom, and that's when, with an evil grin (okay, not really), she brings out her Kindle.

My mom, who had been pestering me for months to use her cursed Kindle, had gotten me The Hunger Games, alright -- with electronic strings attached. The horror!

While she went on about how much she wanted me to borrow her Kindle and swore I'd love it if I just tried it out, and that she'd be happy to get me one if I did, I repeatedly pressed at the screen and grew quickly frustrated by its infuriating lack of response... before my mom pointed out the arrow keys and reminded me that it wasn't a touch screen. Oh. Right.

So my sentimental, anti-e-reader principles were reluctantly set aside. As I expected, I missed (and still do!) the physicality of a real book -- its weight, how it would fit just right in my hands, the strangely satisfying texture of its pages, the ease with which I could flip through it. But if I was itching to indulge in a Hunger Games binge, I'd have to endure. And so I grumbled and sighed and resigned myself to the Kindle's soulless buttons.

However, even the Kindle couldn't detract from the thrill of reading a great series for the first time. As I devoured the first two books, the bane of my existence slowly became an object I haven't allowed myself to keep too far out of reach. And I suppose, with this positive association with The Hunger Games, the Kindle has forced me to be a bit more open-minded about it.

While immersing myself in the world of Hunger Games, I discovered a curious Kindle feature called "highlights." With Kindle, readers have the ability to highlight their favorite quotes, and those that are particularly popular are marked as such in all Kindles. It's so fascinating to see what passages many other readers feel compelled to highlight. Like my previous admission about the usefulness of reading Amazon reviews, Kindle's highlights feature bears a form of communal spirit that is unique to online communities of readers. Reading these underlined quotes, and knowing they are highlighted because hundreds of readers find significance in them, brings a special, powerful emphasis to the author's words, and gives us a glimpse of that magical connection between author and readers.  And that, I must admit, is pretty romantic.

Though I still miss the physicality and cover art of books (because I must confess I am one of those people who lets books' covers largely dictate my first impressions of their content), and I still don't see a great fit for e-readers in building a personal library (with shelves and all the trimmings) or enjoying a leisurely afternoon of perusing and stumbling upon hidden treasures in a bookstore, I think I'm kind of starting to get used to this newfangled contraption. 

Is it possible to develop Stockholm Syndrome for an object?

What We Did Today

by Leigh-Ann and Daniel

Hi, I'm Leigh-Ann and this is my Spark partner, Daniel. Today, we watched the first two minutes of a movie called INCEPTION. First we watched it with no sound and we tried to see what was going on. I learned that you can also understand a movie by the way they use the camera. I had a feeling inside me like something bad was going to happen and Daniel had a moody feeling inside him. We've noticed what we can see in a movie with no sound. We watched it over a few times and then with sound and saw what was really going on with all the noises and sound effects. We also did storyboards and wrote stories with some dialogue. I had fun doing these activities and of course watching the movie that looks really interesting.

A Story by Leigh-Ann and Daniel

 There was once a little girl named Lily. She lived in the countryside and one day she decided to go for a long walk. When she left for a walk, she saw a thing coming closer to her but it was coming from the sky. She got scared and hid under an oak tree. She heard a loud sound and then she saw a Roman person looking at her. They stared at each other for a few minutes because she couldnt believe her eyes. The Roman said to her, "You must come with us to help us with our duties." Lily got so scared she ran back home and gave her mom such a big hug. Her mom knew Lily had got in to bad mischief. "Knock knock" -- the Roman was trying to get in but Lily told her mom, "don't open the door!" but it was too late. The Roman knocked down the door and grabbed Lily and took her back to the space ship and flew her to another place she had never seen. After that, no one has seen or heard of Lily again.

Meet our Spark Apprentices: Leigh-Ann & Daniel!

Hi this is Leigh-Ann and Daniel. We are apart of a program called Spark. Spark is really cool because we get to come to The Writers Junction. The Junction is really awesome because we get to write different stories and meet new people. There's a lot of nice and funny people at The Writers Junction. The Junction is really cozy and half of the time people are writing and the other half people are just relaxing on the comfy couches. When you walk in you feel welcome and relax. When you come all your stress from driving and the traffic goes away. When you are here you feel calm and there are so many good books to read that came from the writers here at The Junction. This is the best place to get all your books, plays, and movies done.
- By Leigh-Ann and Daniel, local 7th-graders

This Week's Writing Contest

Complete the following sentence on Twitter (or here!) for a prize:

"You know you're a writer when..."

#JunctionContests
Deadline: Wednesday, September 21st, 3:00pm

Quickie: The Soundtrack Behind Your Story

by Jacqueline Fauni

One day I was perusing the Lending Library here at The Junction (Note to members: remember to check it out if you’re in need of a book!) and came across a short story anthology called Please: Fiction Inspired by The Smiths, edited by Peter Wild.  Though I’m not very familiar with The Smiths and admit to being discouraged from reading the anthology by disappointed reviewers on Amazon and Goodreads, I was intrigued by the idea of it and thought it might be a fun and immersing experience to try writing a story in direct response to a playlist.

Instructions: Put your iPod (or iTunes, or any other kind of music device/playlist) on shuffle and listen to 5-7 songs.  Write in a stream of consciousness through the songs, but listen carefully and write in focused response to them.  Who, where, when, why, how, and what do you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel from the music?  Does a story emerge?  Would a story more cohesively emerge if you switched the order of the songs?  Do the transitions between songs coincide with turning points?

Have fun, and happy writing!

Freewrite of the Week: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

by Jacqueline Fauni

We had a great time at the UCLA Writers Faire last Sunday, and were intrigued by some advice given at the "Writing Your First Novel" panel. When asked about how to actually start writing a novel, mystery novelist Linda Palmer said she likes to begin by creating a cast of characters and exploring their opinions. We wholeheartedly agree with her character-first approach!

As important as the plot or situation is in a story, characters are the ones that are reacting to the situation, or even instigating it along with even more situations. Forming your characters' opinions and outlooks on life is essential because they dictate how your characters think, behave, talk to and connect with other people, and ultimately propel the plot. As interesting as a nun-in-training becoming a governess to a former naval officer's seven children sounds, it becomes a lot more interesting when the captain thinks it's best to keep his children at a distance with a strictly enforced schedule, the children think that torturing all their governesses is the only way to get their father's attention, and the nun-in-training thinks it's a good idea to butt heads with the captain to get the children the fun and affection they need. Throwing all these different opinions into the mix is what makes The Sound of Music such a great story as they interact, clash, and change each other.

Besides being important on the level of the story, your characters' opinions make up a big part of the connection between you and your reader. By creating a character with beliefs, values, and feelings, you make him/her more real, interesting, and relatable--someone your readers come to feel that they know. The "My Favorite Things" scene is a moment we witness Maria's belief in the unifying power of music, and we are swept away right along with the children in a carefree, whimsical recollection of favorite things. It's a moment when the children feel connected to Maria, and so do we.

Developing things as profound as your characters' opinions can seem daunting, but you can ease into it by thinking about fun and simple things first, such as their likes and dislikes (e.g. favorite and most despised foods, films, etc.).

Your task: In a 10-minute stream-of-consciousness exercise, list some of your character's favorite things.  And by "things," we mean anything: objects, pastimes, hobbies, interests, ideas, words, stories, songs, sounds, smells, memories, places, people, seasons, time of day, days of the week, etc. We're leaving it up to you!

*The next step: Explore your character's forms of "when the dog bites" and "when the bee stings," or situations akin to Gretel's fear of thunderstorms. What would make your character feel sad, angry, or scared? Write about an event that makes your character want to "simply remember [their] favorite things."